Charity Dynamics Empowers American Cancer Society Relay for Life Participants to Raise Fundraising Bar With New iPhone App

AUSTIN, Texas, July 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- American Cancer Society's signature fundraising event, Relay For Life, achieved a significant mobile fundraising boost during the 2011 spring event season following the launch of its new iPhone® app designed by Charity Dynamics.

Data released today by Charity Dynamics, a provider of comprehensive online marketing and fundraising solutions for nonprofits, shows that event participants who used the new Relay For Life mobile app raised 180 percent more than individuals who fundraised without the application. The results were taken from a sampling of 2011 Relay events, and also revealed that participants using iPhones to fundraise:

• Collected almost three times (3x) as many individual gifts as participants who fundraised but did not use the application;
• Set their fundraising goal 162 percent higher on average than their peers; and
• Were more than twice (2x) as likely to update their online personal fundraising pages.

Additionally, returning Relay participants using the iPhone app raised 58 percent more in 2011 than they did the previous year, compared to only an 18 percent increase for fundraisers not using the app. Full details can be found in Charity Dynamics' Relay For Life case study.

"We were thrilled to offer a Relay For Life mobile application to our participants for the first time, and saw a lot of enthusiasm among individuals who were using it," said Shannon Bridges, Director, Relay For Life Online Events. "The results from Charity Dynamics helped us further realize that our new mobile app was empowering our strongest fundraisers to be even stronger. We're excited to see what year two brings as we expand beyond the iPhone market and integrate the mobile apps with our Facebook application."

American Cancer Society's Relay For Life iPhone app is available for free to any individual who registers online for a Relay event. The app allows participants to: track their fundraising progress, easily update their personal fundraising page, view a list of their donors, send email fundraising appeals to their networks, and stay updated on important Relay event details.

"By offering a mobile application for its 2011 events, Relay For Life was able to increase engagement among participants while empowering them to be more ambitious and effective fundraisers," said Donna Wilkins, president of Charity Dynamics. "The key to effective peer-to-peer fundraising is to make the entire process as easy as possible for participants and their networks of donors, and the results from Relay's spring event season strongly confirm that when organizations do this, exceptional fundraising results will follow."

About Charity Dynamics

Charity Dynamics provides comprehensive online solutions for nonprofit organizations. From strategy to implementation and beyond, Charity Dynamics partners with clients of all sizes to deliver the services, software, and support they need to get the results they want. Organizations using the company's innovative social networking application, Boundless Fundraising, have raised more than $100 million directly through the application in less than 3 years. In addition to the American Cancer Society, Charity Dynamics' clients include The ALS Association, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, National Multiple Sclerosis Society and The Salvation Army. For more information, please visit www.charitydynamics.com.

SOURCE Charity Dynamics